


Fragments

by Lastly



Category: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types, DOUBLE DECKER! ダグ&キリル | Double Decker! Doug & Kirill (Anime), Mass Effect Trilogy, RWBY, Tatakae!! Iczer-1
Genre: Multi, See chapters for specific tags
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-14 11:28:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 12,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29791233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lastly/pseuds/Lastly
Summary: 'Fragments' is a series I'm going to use to post incomplete works that I won't be finishing. These are from various fandoms with various pairings so each chapter will be tagged individually and will have additional notes about it. I'm posting these because I think it can be interesting to see works-in-progress but also, who knows, maybe someone will see one of these ideas and take it up and run with. If you do, I'd love to see how it turns out!
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Cobalt/Sepia, Coco Adel/Velvet Scarlatina, Daphnae/Kassandra (Assassin's Creed), Female Shepard/Liara T'Soni, Nagisa/Iczer-1, Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee, Yuri Fujishiro/Maxine Silverstone
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	1. RWBY - Ruby Musical Taste

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RWBY  
> Blake/Yang and eventual Ruby/Weiss  
> Modern AU, Fluff
> 
> This started off as a funny joke based on some actual thoughts about when people ask me about music. I kind of gave up on this idea for two reasons: I don't have enough music-related vocabulary to do this idea justice and also I didn't have any real ideas for a plot beyond what's already written here. So I sat on it for months and eventually gave up on it.

"Ah, hey sis, can I come in?" Ruby poked her head around the doorframe of Yang's bedroom and peered in at her sister. She and Blake were sitting on Yang's bed together, Blake leaned against Yang's shoulder while she worked on some homework and while Yang procrastinated on her own work.

"Yeah, of course, what's up pipsqueak?" Yang looked up from her scroll and gave her sister an inviting smile. Ruby sheepishly came around the corner and took a single step into the room before she froze again. She held her scroll in both hands and fidgeted nervously with it.

"Well, um... I just... was hoping to get some advice from you?"

Blake closed her textbook, using her pencil as a bookmark, and looked up at Ruby. She and Yang both patiently waited for Ruby. She had been having trouble coming to terms with her feelings and had been occasionally asking them for help and they assumed that this was no different. They had learned that the best way for them to help was to give Ruby the time she needed to sort out her thoughts and find the right words for what she needed to say.

"You know that girl I told you about? The one that... that I like?" Ruby's cheeks turned slight shade of pink. She still wasn't used to saying it out loud. It felt good to say it, though. "She and I... we've been texting and, uh..." Ruby took a breath. "She asked me what music I like and I don't know what to say!"

Yang's lips twitched as she tried not to laugh and a nudge in the side from Blake helped her contain it.

"Well, why can't you just tell her what you like?" Blake asked.

"Ruby only likes weird shit." Yang said with a laugh. Blake elbowed her in the side again, a bit harder this time.

"She'll think I'm a weirdo if I tell her what I'm actually into!" Ruby exclaimed. Blake had thought for a moment that the sisters might've been pulling a fast one on her but the genuine concern on Ruby's face and in her voice convinced her otherwise.

"But if I just tell her something too mainstream then she'll think I'm boring!" Ruby continued. "There's no right answer! No matter what she's going to stop talking to me!"

"Oh, Ruby, I think you're overreacting." Blake gave her best sympathetic look. "Here, take a deep breath and then tell me about what the last thing you listened to was. I bet it won't be nearly as weird as you think! Then you'll be able to tell Weiss about it, no problem."

"Well... lately I've been really into this new band. They're like... experimental grunge-triphop grindcore fusion and I can't stop listening to them. It's just... they're really pushing boundaries in every direction and I think they've got this really distinct and revolutionary sound!" Ruby's eyes started to light up and excitement crept into her voice with each and every word. "And, like, they've got three albums out so far and they've _never used the same time signature twice_! That's so wild! It's basically unheard of!"

" _Oh_ " Blake said quietly as her eyes widened. Yang and Ruby had been right. This _was_ weird.

"And, like, their lineup is strange as well. They've got two drummers and _seven_ guitarists!? That's way too many! At least, for a regular band that is! But they've got each of them kind of doing their own thing but it all still totally comes together and makes each of the parts feel totally vital to the overall song!" Ruby started to pace around Yang's room as she continued on. "And so there's been kind of this big backlash against them. Like, the organizations that run the award shows and whatever are all trying to come up with reasons to disqualify them just because their music is so new and different but just wait, I'm sure in a while everyone will realize who's on the right side of history on this one."


	2. RWBY - Ruby the Ghost

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RWBY  
> Modern/College AU  
> eventual Ruby/Weiss (sorta)
> 
> I thought it'd be really silly if Ruby was a ghost that was haunting Weiss and started writing it in the hopes that I'd have an idea for an actual plot by the time I got to it and then I didn't so I sorta gave up. Been thinking about it for a while and just don't know where to go with it. I had vague ideas that Weiss would start off as a bit abrasive but would grow to like Ruby over time.

"Whatcha workin' on?" Ruby asked as she peered over Weiss's shoulder.

Weiss sighed and set down her pen. She looked up at Ruby's slyly grinning face and puckered her lips. She found this girl to be unbearably annoying but she could never bring herself to tell her off.

"My calculus homework." she replied bluntly.

"Ooohhh." Ruby leaned in closer and got a better look at the equations scrawled across the page. "I don't think I remember any of that stuff."

"You sit in on all my classes, do you not pay attention?"

"Nope!"

Weiss sighed again. "If you're going to haunt me then you could at least be useful while you do it."

"Hmmmm..." Ruby leaned back and slowly drifted away from Weiss's desk. She put a hand on her chin as if she were stroking a beard, deep in thought. "I don't think ghosts are supposed to help you study."

"Well, I don't know what you _are_ supposed to do. You're not spooky _or_ scary and you're certainly not helpful."

"I'm your friend!" Ruby exclaimed. 

"No you're not." Weiss retorted so quickly, it was almost like she spoke before Ruby had finished speaking.

"Hmph, fine!" Ruby floated away from the desk and over towards Weiss's bed and disappeared.

"Ruby, what are you doing?" Weiss twisted around in her chair and stared at the bed.

"Haunting your pillow. You're going to have some _very_ spooky dreams tonight."

Weiss narrowed her eyes at the bed. She wasn't sure if Ruby meant it or not. If she did, it wasn't anything she had ever done before. But Weiss wasn't sure if Ruby had any sort of power like that. In the few weeks she had been haunting her, she wasn't sure Ruby had shown any particularly special ghostly abilities at all.


	3. RWBY - Pirate AU

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RWBY  
> Pirate AU
> 
> I had a whole plot planned out in my head but didn't write it down in an outline like I normally would and so I only ever got this bit written. I think it was an enemies-to-lovers thing with Blake and Weiss but I don't remember at all how I had planned for it to get there.

"Madame Captain! Three Frigates on the starboard horizon!" the man in the crow's nest shouted down to the command deck.

Captain Blake Belladonna grit her teeth, nabbed her navigator's spyglass, and peered through it out across the sea. Sure enough, three ships were on the approach, their sails crisp white with the blue snowflake and golden crown emblem upon them. She tossed the spyglass back to her navigator and clicked her tongue. She had had plans to 'rendezvous' with a group of merchant ships but that required a strict time schedule that didn't have any frigates interfering with it. _Midnight Blue_ may have been the fastest vessel to sail the seas but having three of the Ice Queen's frigates chasing her wasn't an idea the Captain liked.

"Hard to starboard! Crew to battlestations! They want a fight, they'll get it!" she yelled, her eyes still locked on the horizon where their foes awaited. Her crew gave a cheer before they all rushed about the decks of the ship to prepare for battle. Everyone aboard knew that three frigates were no match for them. Madame Captain Black Cat and her Midnight Blue were legendary. Everyone knew them and everyone knew to fear them.

These ships proved no different from every other one her pirate crew had sent to the bottom of the sea. Midnight Blue's sixty cannons boomed in unison three times and three times the Ice Queen's frigates were smashed to bits and were swallowed by the sea. 

"Throw down the ropes, drag aboard any survivors, and throw them in the brig." Captain Belladonna told her first mate and then went below deck to her private quarters. She poured herself a glass of whiskey from her private store and listened to the sounds of waterlogged navy sailors being forced down to the lowest deck where the brig awaited them. After the commotion died down, there came a knock on her door.

"Captain, all prisoners are loaded aboard and locked down. We're awaiting your orders now." came the muffled voice of her first mate. He, and the rest of the crew, knew better than to open the door to the Captain's quarters without her express permission. The last time someone had done that she threw them overboard but she had been merciful and slowed the ship down enough to let them climb back aboard.

"Aye, thank you Sun. I'll speak to them in a minute." She took a sip of her drink and looked at the brown liquid. It wasn't, by any means, 'good' whiskey but it was the best they had on board. She downed the last bit of the booze and set the glass back down before slowly rising from behind her large oak desk and making her way down to the brig. First Mate Sun Wukong was waiting just outside her door and followed her down.

"We captured forty-seven of them. Three of them got away and dove back into the sea. Two others tried to fight back and were tossed overboard after being on the receiving end of some pistols. So that leaves forty-two prisoners aboard." Sun gave her the rundown as they descended the final staircase down to the holding cells of the brig.


	4. RWBY - Blind Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RWBY  
> Modern AU  
> Blake/Yang
> 
> This was inspired by hearing about someone doing something like this as a prank. He made a fake online dating profile, convinced a bunch of people to show up in the same place at the same time and thought the whole thing was hilarious. I thought it'd be fun if it was that but gay at the end but then when I got to the part of writing a date I suddenly remembered that I don't actually like writing dates all that much. The only notes I've got for this beyond what is posted here, is that the date is going bowling together and that Yang is really good and, after letting Blake bowl first, realizes she has to sand bag really hard to make it even close to an even match.

It seemed that Yang's trudge through the perilous world of online dating had finally paid off. She had had some ups and downs so far (mostly downs) but she felt good about today's rendezvous. She had chatted with a woman named Michelle for a few days prior and had decided to meet up by the big fountain at the center of the city's park. Yang had considered bringing a big bouquet of flowers but decided it'd be too cheesy. A single red rose, however, was just the right about of cheesey for her.

Yang sat down on the edge of the fountain and looked around at the various people milling around. She didn't see anyone that matched Michelle's profile picture yet but her eager anticipation had gotten her to the meeting spot a fair bit earlier than necessary. In addition to that, the park was always rather busy on warm Saturday afternoons so maybe she just hadn't spotted her yet. Yang had a sudden realization and shrugged her leather jacket off and revealed the red short sleeve v-neck shirt beneath it. Michelle had suggested that Yang wear a red shirt so that it'd be easier for her to spot her when she arrived. Yang had thought it was a bit of an odd request since her height and bushy blonde hair already made her stand out from a crowd but she agreed to it nonetheless.

Yang tried to sit still but her mix of excitement and anxiety got the better of her. She bounced one leg a bit while her eyes kept scanning the crowd for the redhead that she was on the lookout for. She occasionally glanced down at the rose and several times considered throwing it away. Maybe it was a bit much? Or maybe it'd be a good ice breaker? She wasn't sure. She twirled it around in her hands a few times as she kept searching the crowd. Yang tried her best not to constantly check her scroll for the time but ended up looking at it every ninety seconds or so. Eventually, the planned meetup time came and went. After another fifteen minutes, Yang got up and stood atop the edge of the fountain to get a better view. 

"Michelle!" she called out. No answer but she got quite a few confused looks. She looked at the people and realized that there was at least a dozen people wearing red shirts here...

"Is... is anyone else here waiting for a redhead named Michelle?" she called out to the crowd. At first, she was met with silence but after a moment a hand went up. Then another. And then several more. Yang pursed her lips together.

"I think someone's messing with us." she announced. The other redshirts muttered to each other and, one by one, they started to dejectedly leave.

Yang stepped down and sat back down on the fountain's edge. She let out a heavy sigh. At least the last few times she had been stood up it was a seemingly real person who offered her an apology and a flimsy excuse. It seemed her dating troubles were doomed to continue for a while longer. Just as she was ready to give up and go home, a woman seemed to approach her.

"Uh... hey." The black haired faunus timidly said.

"She got you too, huh?" Yang asked after a glance at the woman's red shirt. She blushed and gave a nod. "Well, at least it's only noon so it's not like the whole day was a waste."

"Ah, actually... since I guess you're free for the rest of the day... do you want to... maybe hang out for a while?" The pair of cat ears atop the woman's head meekly bent down towards her head as her cheeks turned the slightest shade of pink. Yang locked eyes with the faunus and froze for a moment.


	5. RWBY - The Sexy Gardener and the Innocent Housewife

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RWBY  
> Modern AU  
> Blake/Yang
> 
> I really like this idea and I think what I've got is really solid but I ran into the problem of not being entirely too sure how to proceed from where this one ends. It didn't feel right for Yang to take Blake up on her offer and go on a date because of how much I leaned into her inner monologue being about how much she disliked rich people. My anti-capitalism/eat the rich brain kinda took over and made it hard for me to feel like she'd be justified in just going "well, despite everything, it's okay to date this woman I guess"

"Did you do this?" Blake said in a very nonplussed voice. She pointed one of her perfectly manicured nails down at a perfectly round shrubbery. Yang glanced down at the shrub, then up at the woman's blank expression that was mostly hidden by large sunglasses and a wide-brimmed floppy sun hat, then back down at the shrub again.

"Uh, yes ma'am, I did." Yang said carefully. _Of course_ she had been the one to trim it. She was the only one from the landscaping company working here today. Who else could've done it?

"It's nice. Very round." The slightest hint of a smile teased the corner of Blake's mouth when she complimented the spherical greenery.

"Oh, thank you!" Yang pretended to care about the limp compliment and gave the woman a cheery smile. She hated this part of the job. She had to act like the opinion of every pretentious rich person she raked leaves for was the most important thing to her. And of course she had to _smile_. That was one of the first lessons she learned in this job; not smiling was as big a job risk as cutting the grass too short or trimming too much off of a hedge.

"Keep up the good work." Blake adjusted the brim of her hat when a gust of wind threatened to steal it away and then turned and wandered over to one of the dozen identical lounge chairs arranged along one side of the pool.

When Yang had started this job, she had initially thought that having someone sunbatheing (or in this case, reading what appeared to be a romance novel) while she worked was an okay thing. An attractive woman for her to glance over at when she needed a bit of motivation couldn't hurt, right? But oh how wrong she was. She quickly realized that rich assholes just liked to watch other people work. It probably made them feel better about throwing all their money around or something like that. So now, despite just how attractive Ms. Blake Belladonna was in yellow sundress, Yang couldn't bare to look over at the woman.

Just a little bit longer. Yang had to just rake up a few more fallen leaves and a bit more of the bits of detritus all the yardwork had left in the grass and then take it to the compost pile and then she'd be done for the day. She took a deep breath to try and calm down some. She was more frustrated than usual today, most likely due to the blistering heat. She wanted _so badly_ to take off her shirt but her boss had told her that a sports bra was absolutely _not_ proper attire and that, yes, she really did have to wear the ugly green polo shirt at all times. Today, at least, she was rebelling in the only way she could: she left the button at the collar undone.

"Okay Miss Belladonna, I'm all done for today." Yang placed the last of the raked-up rubbish into the bucket so she could haul it away to the compost and looked over towards the pool. Miss Belladonna was looking _very_ relaxed now, as if she was attempting to give up her life as a best-selling author and be some kind of fashion magazine cover model. "So, unless there's anything else you need from me, I'll pack up and head out."

"Oh! Okay then. It looks wonderful!" she replied with a little wave.

 _Yeah, right_ Yang thought. _You probably haven't even looked at it._

\-----

"What do you _mean_ I have to go back to the Belladonna place? I was just there yesterday! There's nothing left to do there!"

"She called and said you did a great job and that she wanted you to come back today. I'm not going to say no to charging her twice in one week, okay? Just go there and put up with whatever bullshit she puts you through. It should be an easy paycheck! It'll practically be a day off!"

"Okay, _fine_." Yang conceded with a heavy sigh. She decided not to fight it. Worst case scenario: she ends up putting up with a snobby rich woman and does some minimal amount of work and then goes home early. All things considered, that wouldn't be _too_ bad.

Yang loaded up into one of the company vans that was stuffed full of just about any tool she could possibly need and made the drive back over to the Belladonna mansion. She saw a rival company's van in front of one of the other houses in the gated community that Blake lived in and for a moment she considered stopping by and talking some shit to whoever was working that day. Despite working for different companies, they all got along pretty well. They were all in the same boat, having to do menial work for people with more money than sense.

She pulled the van into the roundabout driveway at Blake's and took a deep breath before she got out. Get in, listen to her whine about whatever, and get out.

Apparently, she was going to go for a swim today because she greeted Yang at the door in a swimsuit, slight robe, and a different floppy hat than the one she had worn the day before. Yang felt that anti-rich person anger bubble up inside again as she thought of this woman taking a leisurely swim while she had to do who-knows-what in the sweltering/ungodly heat.

\--yang notices that blake dragged a small table and a typewriter out to the side of the pool today, if she asks about it blake says she wanted to do her writing outside today, yang thinks about just much of a 'rich writer' stereotype she is but that of course she is because she really is a rich writer

"So, what was it you wanted me to do today?" Yang asked.

"Oh! Right! Yes! The garden, right." Blake turned around quickly as she spoke and lead the way around to the back yard. Just before she turned around, though, Yang thought she caught a glimpse of blush beginning to fill her cheeks.

"You see, um… Well, you did a great job yesterday." Yang rolled her eyes as she listened to Blake. "It's really fantastic, I do love the work you do. With the grass and the hedges and everything. It looks great. You’re worth every cent."

After several rambling platitudes, the pair emerged out of the rear of the mansion and to the poolside area that had the series of waist-high spherically-trimmed shrubs that Yang worked so hard to maintain around it.

"So, um, the bushes." Blake motioned at the green orbs with one hand and paused. Yang didn’t say anything. She knew better. As soon as she suggested something she _could_ do, Blake would just agree and have her do it. If she kept her mouth shut, she’d get out of this with minimal actual work done. Blake took a few steps away to the break in the row of shrubs that lead to the empty grass of the back yard.

"Well, you see, the grass." she gestured out at the perfectly manicured lawn. "It… um…."

Yang looked out at the lawn. It looked exactly the same as she had left it the day before with the exception of a couple of leaves that had fallen overnight. Surely, though, that wasn’t why this woman had asked her to come out here today.

"No. Um. The…" Blake briefly turned around to face Yang and she got a glimpse of just how red her cheeks had become before she turned back around towards the empty yard. "The… trees!"

"Oh, I can't do trees, I'm not certified to climb up there." Yang explained calmly. The trees looked fine to her but if Blake had a problem with them then she'd be able to hand this off to someone else and get out of work early today.

 _"Are you dense!?"_ Blake burst out and turned around to face Yang. Her hands that usually looked so delicate and dainty were balled into frustrated fists and her expression of vague confusion had changed to something resembling frustration.

"It's actually really complicated. Tree stuff requires a lot more training than you'd think." Yang swallowed her pride and kept her cool. Plenty of the people she worked for would insinuate that because of her job she was less intelligent or less worthy as a person and she was utterly sick of it. Unfortunately, she needed the paycheck and so she just had to put up with being called _'dense'_ from time to time.

"No! I mean! Wait! I'm so sorry! That came out wrong!" Blake stammered out quickly. "I didn't mean that, I swear! I don’t think you're dense!"

"If it's a tree thing, I've got someone I can call over at Niko's Tree Trimming and Removal for you-"

"Don't you know how these stories go? The sexy gardener is supposed to seduce the innocent housewife!" Blake blurted out. If Yang hadn't been so stunned she might've noticed the look of mixed dread and regret that filled Blake's face once the words left her mouth.

"Uh…" Yang was at a loss for words. Of all the bizarre things that had been said to her while she worked this job, that one was definitely the strangest one by a country mile. "You're… married?"

"What?"

"If I'm the sexy gardener, are you the innocent housewife? Or was that supposed to be someone else."

"Ah… oh. I…. I'm not married. It… it's just a trope, I guess. I'm not married." Blake's cheeks turned redder as she stumbled through her words. "And I'm not innocent either, I'm into all kinds of kinky stuff.”

There was a pause between the two as they both realized what it was that she had just said, followed by Blake quickly covering her face and turning away from Yang. Yang let out a little laugh and put a comforting hand on the woman’s shoulder.

"You’d think for being a world-famous romance author you'd be a bit better at writing a confession scene."


	6. RWBY - Late Night Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RWBY  
> Blake/Yang  
> College AU, Alcohol
> 
> The idea was that they'd get back to their dorm room, drunk, and maybe say or do somethings they might not otherwise and then have an awkward conversation in the morning (or awkwardly avoid having a conversation) and eventually end up together but I lost interest in writing it before I got very far in.

Yang slumped against the doorframe of her dorm room as she shoved her hands into her pockets in search of her key. She thought that she had put it in her jacket pocket but she was having trouble finding it.

"Come on, hurry up, I want to go to bed." Blake said. Her words slurred together a bit.

"I can't find-" Yang mumbled as she searched the pockets on the inside of her jacket.

"Did you _lose_ your key?" Blake said with a giggle.

"I didn't!" Yang reassured her roommate. "It's here somewhere..."

Blake came up behind Yang and slid her arms around Yang's waist. "Lemme give you a hand..." she muttered. She rested her chin down on Yang's shoulder while her hands slid into the pockets of her jeans.

Yang could smell the mix of lavender and whiskey on Blake quite clearly with her body pressed against hers. Yang's hands fidgeted inside of her pockets, no longer looking for her key but for a grip on reality. She had wanted to be this close to Blake for so long but she knew that this wasn't the time to be doing this. They had both had too much to drink and just needed to sleep it off. But the feeling of Blake's slender fingers on her thighs were hard to deny.

"Oh! I think I got it." Blake pushed one hand a bit deeper into Yang's pocket and finally retrieved the missing key. Without moving from her position against Yang's back, Blake held the key towards the lock on the door but was unsteady enough that she couldn't quite get it to line up. She tried to push the key in but missed several times in a row, each time scraping the small bit of metal against the wooden door.

"Come on, stick it in the hole. You're worse at this than my ex was." The booze had lubricated Yang's lips to the point that she said the words before she even realized what she was saying. She wouldn't normally say anything like that around Blake, for fear that her friend might somehow use that to figure out that Yang had a crush on her.

"Fuck you" Blake said with a giggle as she missed the keyhole once again. Yang wasn't sure she was saying it in response to the joke or her frustration with the lock. Yang grinned as an idea ran through her head and took control of her body. She put a hand over Blake's and helped steady her arm enough that it only took them three more tries to get the door unlocked.

"There, I got it!" Blake declared triumphantly.

"Yeah, _you_ did, sure." Yang teased. Blake broke into more giggles which got Yang giggling as well.


	7. RWBY - Lonely

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RWBY  
> Blake/Yang  
> Angst
> 
> This one was just too sad for me to want to finish. It reminds me too much of how lonely I am so I didn't want to keep going on it. It didn't help that I didn't have any particular thoughts or notes on where this was going. I guess it was just going to be Yang feeling sad and ruminating in her feelings for a while.

Yang groaned and pulled Blake a little bit closer. She wasn't sure what time it was but it definitely wasn't time to wake up yet. She tried to bury her face in Blake's silky black hair but something didn't feel right. She creaked her eyes open and what little light there was in the room reminded her of reality. Her arms weren't wrapped around her soft girlfriend but were instead holding a soft pillow. She groaned again and buried her face in the pillow. Blake was out of town visiting her family for a week but after only two days Yang was missing her more than anything. 

Yang closed her eyes again and tried to imagine that it actually was Blake in her arms but none of it was quite right. It didn't smell as sweet, it wasn't soft in the right way, and it didn't have the same warmth as Blake. She grumbled as she realized that she wasn't going to be getting back to sleep at this point. Her mind was buzzing with too many thoughts for her to have any hope of that.

She tossed the pillow aside and rolled over to grab her scroll off the nightstand. She squinted her eyes when the blindingly bright screen turned on. Even with the brightness all the way down it was still too much for her to handle at this hour. 'This hour' being three in the morning, apparently. She groaned yet again. She couldn't get back to sleep but it was too early to get up and claim that she just woke up a bit earlier than usual.

Yang threw the covers off and swung her feet over the edge of the bed. She dug her toes into the soft carpet as she looked around the dark bedroom. There was just enough moonlight leaking in through the blinds to illuminate the mess she had made of the bedroom. She had clothes scattered across the floor and even a few shirts draped across the edge of the dresser.

Two days. 

She had never fully realized before just how much of a mess she was without Blake. The apartment was a mess, her normally-clockwork sleep schedule was apparently going to get ruined, and


	8. AC: Odyssey - Kass & Artemis

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Assassin's Creed: Odyssey  
> Implied Kassandra/Daphnae  
> Mourning, Angst, Alcohol
> 
> This was a sequel (or maybe second chapter) to one of my old AC:O fics, Back To Where It Began. I do kinda like the general idea here but my idea sort of fizzled out and I wasn't sure what to do with it or where this would go. The idea I had was that Kassandra would eventually attack Artemis, kill her, but then realize it was the body of some random person that Artemis had just possessed/inhabited. I didn't really like that idea but I wasn't sure what to do instead.

Kassandra was startled awake by the smell of a fire. Her head was in a wine-fueled haze from the night before. She tried to remember if she had put the fire out before she went to sleep. She was fairly certain she had but if she could smell smoke then perhaps she didn't get around to it before passing out?

Kassandra crawled out of Daphnae's small tent, her eyes blurred as the morning sun flooded her vision. She let out an audible groan as her eyesight slowly adjusted and revealed to her that there was not only a fire burning but also a young woman who was sat next to it. She had a strange look about her. She seemed very familiar but Kassandra couldn't quite place who she was. The more she looked at the woman, the more she looked like any anonymous strange she might pass on the street. Kassandra tried to focus on her face but for some reason she couldn't recognize who this was. Her hangover certainly didn't help but it seemed like there was something else happening to her as well.

"Oh, there you are! Good morning!" shouted the young woman. 

"Don't shout, I'm right here." Kassandra sat down across from the woman, rubbing her head in hopes of calming down the pain. "Who are you?"

"Oooh poor Kassandra. Did you drink a little too much wine last night?" the woman said with a teasing grin.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Kassandra clenched a fist as she was barely able to contain her temper. Her instinct was to snap at the woman and try to drive her away so she could go back to sleep and recover in peace but something in the back of her mind convinced her that she should maybe hear what the woman had to say.

"Who am I? Oh come now Kassandra, don't be like that. Don't you recognize me?" Kassandra was getting tired of her smug grin but before she could think of a snarky retort, the woman tossed the head of the Artemis statue she had smashed the night before into her lap. Kassandra grunted as she caught it, not expecting the heft of the marble to be suddenly thrown at her like that.

"Well? Now do you recognize me?" Kassandra's gaze moved between the woman and the statue head and suddenly realized that they were one and the same person.

"...Artemis?" she said in disbelief. 

"There you go! I knew you could do it." she taunted. "Here, this can be your reward. Drink up, it'll help your head." Artemis tossed a wineskin over to Kassandra, who dropped the statue's head just in time to catch the wine. She sniffed the contents and must have made quite a face because it drew a comment out of Artemis.

"Oh come on, it can't be any worse than that goat piss you call wine that you guzzled down last night." Kassandra glared at Artemis. She didn't want to admit that the goddess was right so she just silently took a drink.

The two of them sat in silence while the fire crackled. Kassandra nursed both the wine and her hangover, quietly hoping that Artemis would leave soon. If she stuck around much longer, Kassandra wasn't sure she'd be able to keep her temper in check.

"Well? Aren't you going to thank me?" Artemis asked, her voice jokingly indignant.

"Why would I do that? I don't have anything to thank you for." Kassandra stated plainly. She drank the last of the wine from the wineskin and tossed it back to Artemis.

"What? I gave you that delicious wine!"

Kassandra grunted.

"Well you drank it all so it couldn't have been that bad. And plus I gave you such a wonderful lover. Really, misthios can be so hard to please."

"You _what_?" Kassandra snapped. " _You're_ the one who took her away. It's _your_ fault that she's gone!" Kassandra had quickly jumped to her feet and pointed at Artemis to emphasize her point.

"My fault? What are you talking about, it wasn't me who put a sword through her heart." Artemis shrugged, her voice still calm and nonchalant.

"You know what I mean! It's your fault that she even wanted to go through with that at all! You told her to do it!" Kassandra's hangover tried to stop her from yelling but the pain in her heart drowned out the pain in her head.

"Come on now Kassandra, you know that we gods never speak directly to people. That was just how she chose to interpret my signs, that's all." Artemis gestured for Kassandra to sit back down.

"Well the signs you're giving me now make think I should shove my _spear through your throat_." Kassandra took a powerful step forward; her foot caused a small cloud of dirt to puff up as she stomped down.

"Calm down Kassandra. You're too quick to jump to violence to solve your problems" Artemis chided her, confident that the woman wasn't _actually_ going to try anything as foolish as attacking a goddess.

Kassandra gritted her teeth and glared at Artemis. "Why are you even here? What do you want with me? Did you really just come here to taunt me? Well good job, you can go now."

"Usually when people want to deface a temple they just cover it in paint, or throw some old fruit at it, or just piss on it. But you? You went to the trouble of smashing my statue! I thought that deserved something a bit more personal." She calmly explained.

"What? Fuck the statue!" Kassandra picked the statue head back up and easily chucked it over the nearby ledge. The head clattered noisily as it tumbled down the rocks and eventually came to rest in the grass at the bottom of the cliff.

"If you're here to smite me for your damned hunk of marble then go ahead and do it already!" Kassandra started to pace around in a circle in an attempt to blow off some steam.

"There you go again: thinking with violence. It's a good thing you're a mercenary, you'd be a pretty shit farmer if you tried to solve everything with a blade. Although I suspect you'd make an alright politician." Artemis laughed at her own joke but Kassandra wasn't having any of it.


	9. Double Decker - Max+Yuri Vacation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double Decker! Doug & Kirill  
> Maxine Silverstone/Yuri Fujishiro  
> domestic, fluff
> 
> This is actually an idea I've had several times for several different ships but this is the only time I've gotten any significant amount of writing done for it. At the end, my inspiration sputtered and I wasn't sure how to keep going or how to end it. 
> 
> (This also features another cameo from Mia Silverstone from The Girl in Twilight, with the same idea as my other DD fic, The Silverstones at Home.)

Max took a deep breath, sucking in the morning air as well as the refreshing scent of coffee. She stretched her arms out over her head, not quite ready to get out of bed just yet. The curtains on the bedroom window were drawn closed but a small slit where they met let in just a sliver of the sunrise that crossed the bed she normally shared with Yuri and provided the smallest amount of light for the otherwise dark room.

She took another deep breath and slowly sat up in bed, the covers falling down around her and settling at her waist. She loved mornings like this where she woke up to the smell of Yuri's coffee. She rolled out of bed and put on a tank top and some shorts before emerging out into the main room of their apartment.

"Good morning Max!" Yuri greeted her cheerfully from the kitchen. She was at the stove, spatula in hand, frying some eggs and bacon.

A tired grumble that resembled the words 'good morning' came from Mia Silverstone. She was sat at the table, poking at her own plate of breakfast, and didn't even look up as she muttered out her almost-greeting. Max grinned, placed a hand atop Mia's head, and ruffled the girl's hair some. "Good morning Mia." she said in a sing-songey way.

"Aaahh! Don't do that, I have to leave soon!" The idea of having to go to school with her hair in a mess apparently woke Mia up more than and food did. Max moved into the kitchen, her attention switching to Yuri.

"Good morning sweetheart." She wrapped one arm around Yuri's waist and place a kiss on top of the shorter woman's head of snow white hair. She rest her head against Yuri's for a moment as she watched the food frying in the pan and listened to Yuri's soft humming that always accompanied her cooking. Max grabbed her favorite mug out of the cupboard and poured herself a mug of coffee, took a sip, and then sat down at the table across from Mia.

"Are you sure you'll be okay without us this weekend?" Max had already talked to Mia about this several times throughout the week but couldn't resist her urges as the older sister to double check one last time.

"She's a highschooler Max, I'm sure she'll survive a few days without us." Yuri said as she placed a plate of perfectly done bacon and eggs down in front of Max before sitting down next to her. Mia nodded along with Yuri's words as she chewed the last few bites of her own food.

"Okay well, remember, if you do need anything we'll both have our phones with us so don't be afraid to call us, alright?" Mia continued nodding as Max spoke, clearly only half listening to her sister's words since she had already heard similar sentiments multiple times all week long.

Mia finished off the last bit of her glass of milk and then looked up at the clock hanging on the wall and let out a gasp. "I need to get going, I'm going to be late! Thank you for breakfast Yuri!" She jumped up out of her chair, grabbed her bag off of the couch and then hurried to the door where she slipped on her shoes and rushed outside.

"Have a good day, we'll see you on Sunday night!" Max shouted after her as she left.

"It's really quite cute, how much you care for her. You're such a sweet older sister." Yuri gave Max a quick peck on the cheek and then stood up to clean up Mia's plate and glass.

"Oh, I don't know about that, all I do is worry about her. You're the one that does all the cooking and cleaning around here."

"It's a team effort. We make really great partners." Yuri turned and shot a sweet smile at Max, quite content in the double meaning of her statement. Max smiled back and had just the slightest hint of red on her cheeks.

"So when do you think we should head out?" Max asked before starting in on her fried eggs.

"Check-in doesn't open until ten and the drive there shouldn't take more than an hour and a half. Maybe two hours if traffic is bad. So I think we can take our time." Yuri replied as she set the now-washed plate and glass on a drying rack and then returned to the table, taking the seat across from Max that Mia had previously occupied.

Max kept her fork in one hand so she could continue eating, but reached her other hand across the table and grabbed Yuri's hand, interlocked their fingers, and smiled at her beautiful girlfriend. Yuri's cheeks became covered in the slightest bit of blush and Max knew that while the blush in her cheeks was synthetic, the feelings behind them were real.

The couple sat in silence as Max finished her food and they simply enjoyed each others' company. After Max finished her breakfast, she got up from the table and stretched again, and then went to take a shower and get properly dressed. Meanwhile, Yuri cleaned the rest of the dishes and then began to pack their bag for the trip. They only needed three days worth of clothes each, so it was pretty easy for her to get everything packed into a single shared bag. Yuri made sure to leave a set of Max's signature style laid out on the bed for her to wear: torn black jeans with a blue button-up top. Max emerged from the bathroom wrapped in a towel, and before moving to put on her fresh set of clothes, she came up behind Yuri, wrapped her arms around her girlfriend and placed another kiss on her head.

"Thank you for planning all of this." she whispered to Yuri. Yuri didn't turn to face Max, but she didn't need to. She could feel Max's warmth and the love in her heart just as they were. She put her hands overtop of Max's and laced their fingers together and held on to her for a moment before the two separated and went back to getting ready.

The pair continued their preparations for the trip: Max checked and double-checked the bag to make sure everything was packed, Yuri insisted on some last minute cleaning, and they made sure to leave a note and some cash for Mia when she got home, just in case the week full of reminders hadn't been enough for her yet.

Eventually, they decided that they were finally ready to head out and gathered up their things, put on their jackets, and made their way down to the apartment building's garage where Max's motorcycle was parked. They put on their helmets, affixed the bag to the rear of the seat and then climbed on themselves, Max of course driving and Yuri close behind her with her arms firmly around the blonde's waist.

"Ready to rock and roll?" Max checked one last time and upon receiving positive confirmation from her partner, she fired up the bike's engine and pulled out of the garage and began their trek.

The first part of their journey went about as well as they could have expected it to. The traffic to get into or out of the city was always hectic regardless of when, where, or how they travelled. The tall skyscrapers of the city quickly gave way to smaller apartment buildings not unlike their own, which later gave way to suburbs, which eventually turned into rolling hills and small patches of forest. It was a strange sort of impressive, the way society had managed to pack so much of itself into such small areas like this and how it didn't take long to get outside of that and then only be faced with an occasional dwelling here or there, perched atop a hill and set far back off any main roads.

Max enjoyed driving on country roads like these and especially enjoyed the mountain roads that they would be on later before arriving at the mountain hot spring resort that Yuri had booked them at for the weekend. Navigating the open roads had a very calming and meditative effect for Max; they let her clear her mind of any worries and focus on the black pavement that stretched ever forward. However, her rolling meditation was interrupted by some abnormal noises coming from the heart of the motorcycle. Max wasn't a mechanic - she usually let the SEVEN-O support staff take care of her bike - but she could tell the sounds coming out of the engine weren't quite right.

" _I have to pull over, something's wrong._ " Max shouted over the roar of the bike's engine. Luckily, the empty road turned less empty up ahead as Max spotted a gas station. Unluckily, it seemed that the gas station was closed and abandoned some time ago. Nevertheless, they rolled into the parking lot just in time as the engine began to sputter and shut off just a moment before Max was able to shut it off manually.

"That... probably isn't good."

"Does it require more fuel?" Yuri asked as she climbed off the bike and removed her helmet.

"No, I made sure it was all good to go before we left. I'm not sure what's wrong with it." Max let out a sigh as she got off the bike and set her helmet on the seat. "I guess we'll have to call a tow."

"Oh, I can-" Yuri pulled her phone out of her pocket but found that it wasn't able to get a signal amidst all the trees and countryside. Max checked her phone and found that she was in the same situation.

"Great, this is just great." Max muttered, her voice laced with frustration. She turned back to the bike and tried to fire up the engine but it only coughed at her, clearly unable to start back up. Max kicked the front tire and swore at the bike.

"I can try using my distress beacon. It functions on government and military frequencies so it should be more reliable than our phones." Yuri offered.

"Won't you get in trouble for that? I thought you weren't allowed to use your extra functions while we were on vacation."

"Technically I'm only supposed to use it for work or for absolute emergencies, but I'm sure Travis will understand. We don't seem to have any other way to get help right now." Max looked at her phone again to make sure it didn't suddenly have a signal and then let out a sigh again when she realized Yuri's distress beacon probably was their only way of getting in contact with anyone.

"Well... I guess if you're sure you won't get in trouble when we get back." Max's voice was tinged with concern as she spoke. Even if it only resulted in a stern talking to, she didn't want to be the one to cause Yuri to get in trouble. Yuri just smiled in reply and after a few moments spoke up again.

"Okay, I've sent out the message. Hopefully they've received it." Just as Yuri finished speaking, a crack of thunder echoed through the sky. They both looked up and realized that a storm had begun brewing at some point: grey clouds filled the sky and raindrops began falling, initially only a light drizzle but it soon escalated to a fervent downpour.

"Oh, this just gets better and better." Max muttered as she unbuckled their bag from the bike, clearly frustrated at how quickly the day had soured. Yuri grabbed onto her hand and quickly moved the pair of them to the front of the gas station where they were able to stand under a small bit of roof that stuck out and had some shelter from the rain. Max sat the bag on the ground, making sure to avoid any puddles, and leaned down to rest her head on Yuri's shoulder.

"I'm sorry dear... this just... I just wanted a nice weekend with you and it's already gone so wrong."

-max is getting frustrated and wants to just get to the spa already but yuri is staying calm and just hugs n cuddles max to help her calm down  
-they sit down on a bench or whatever and just chill and wait  
-whisper sweet nothings, do kissy stuff, etc


	10. Iczer-1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tatakae!! Iczer-1  
> Cobalt/Sepia, Nagisa/Iczer-1  
> Fluff, dating
> 
> I started working on this after watching the three Iczer OVAs and wanted to get it done since Ao3 doesn't seem to have any Iczer fanfic at all but it's been too long that I'd have to rewatch all of it again to remember who these characters are or be able to write them properly. The show was good but it wasn't _that_ good.

Iczer-1 and Nagisa go on a nice date, Iczer-1 is confused by human/earth things

sepia and cobalt go to earth to look for iczer one but use it as an excuse to go on a date a try out earth things  
-cobalt - more serious about the scouting mission  
\--very long white hair, pink eyeshadow  
\--serious  
-sepia - more serious about going on a date  
\--short orange hair, pink eyeshadow  
\--excited/lighthearted

"Remember Sepia, this is just a scouting mission. We're looking for Iczer One's human partner. If we find Iczer One we should try to avoid fighting her."

"Don't worry Cobalt, I know the mission." Sepia replied with a smile.

Sepia pushed a button and just like that they were transported down to Earth. The two of them found themselves in some kind of small room with nothing but a mirror and some clothes hanging on a hook on the wall. Cobalt reached for the door but Sepia stopped her.

"Wait Cobalt, shouldn't we put on some of these clothes first? If we just wear our normal uniforms we'll stand out too much, right?" Sepia suggested. Cobalt stopped for a moment as she realized that her lover was right, if they wanted to avoid conflict on this mission it was important for them to remain incognito.

A grin crossed Sepia's face as she began browsing through the handful of clothes in the small room with them. "Here, these should look great on you." she said, holding out some black slacks and a red sleeveless turtleneck for Cobalt. Sepia grabbed a black wavy skirt, a blue button-up top, and a black jacket for herself. They both changed in to their new outfits but upon realizing that parts of their uniforms were still visible underneath the clothes, Cobalt snapped her fingers and the uniforms slowly vanished. Sepia gave Cobalt a wide smile which Cobalt answered with a small grin as she opened the door and exited the small room.

The two found themselves in what appeared to be a short corridor connecting to several rooms similar to the one they had been transported into. They weren't sure exactly where the transporter had placed them, just that it had put them in a densely populated area of the city so they knew that they would have to be very careful about how they progressed from here. One wrong move and they would attract too much attention from civilians which would not only delay them but also could potentially blow their cover.

Cobalt led the way, slowly moving towards what appeared to be the only actual exit out of the corridor. Sepia followed closely behind and kept a careful ear out in case any of the small chambers behind them opened. They had learned very early on that on a mission like this being surprised from behind is one of the worst situations to have happen.

The alien pair exitted the corridor and immediately were able to relax. Even though they weren't able to spend very much time on Earth, they were still able to instantly recognize a clothing shop. The one they found themselves in right now wasn't particularly large but was packed full of racks of clothes. Lucky for them, the shop was relatively empty with only a few humans scattered around.

"Okay, we're in the clear. Let's get moving." Cobalt said, clearly focused on the mission at hand. They began to move towards the entrance to the store but were soon intercepted by an employee who asked if they needed help with anything. Sepia saw Cobalt begin to move her hand to just push past the young girl so she quickly put her arms around Cobalt's.

"Yes, we're fine, thank you." Sepia said with a smile. Cobalt shot a glance at Sepia, at first out of surprise at what she was doing but then a look of relief as she realized this was probably the better way to deal with this sort of surprise human encounter. The store clerk gave them a smile and walked away, leaving them to go on their way. Sepia gave Cobalt a big grin and kept her hold on her partner's arm as they exited the store out onto the street. The clothing store they had transported into was located on a small street that was packed with plenty of shops and quite a few people.

"Okay, let's split up. We can cover more ground that way. And remember, if you see them don't engage; We're just here to observe." Cobalt said coldly.

"Ah wait, Cobalt don't you think it'd be better if we stayed together? Look at all the people here: they're mostly in pairs. We'll blend in better this way" Sepia interjected, giving Cobalt's arm a light squeeze. Cobalt looked around at all the people walking by as she thought about her partner's idea. Cobalt knew that Sepia was better at this sort of stealth mission than she was. Cobalt found it difficult to adapt to human mannerisms and to blend in properly so on missions like this she would quite often let Sepia take the lead. All up and down the street, the people were mostly travelling in pairs or small groups and of those pairs, most of them had arms interlocked in a way similar to how Sepia was currently holding on to Cobalt. 

-cobalt & sepia walking around lookin at stuff  
-sepia recommends going to a cafe because maybe iczer one and nagisa will be there  
-sepia sees iczer & nagisa there but tries to make sure cobalt doesn't notice them  
\--she sees them when they're being seated and gasps but makes up some excuse and makes sure cobalt sits with her back to them


	11. RWBY - Ghost Hunters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RWBY  
> Blake/Yang and Coco/Velvet  
> Modern AU, Ghost Hunters, Paranormal
> 
> I started writing this 2 or 3 years ago for a Halloween fic and, obviously, never got it done. I don't read or write much horror so I had very little confidence that I could do it well. I only ever had some vague ideas on what I wanted to do with this, mostly just trope-y horror movie stuff. The only concrete bit I wanted to do was at the end when they got back outside, Coco would be confused why there were so worried and would reveal that instead of being in there all night it had only been a minute or two.

"Okay, I'm good to go." Blake hefted her bag of sound equipment over her shoulder and slid the door of her panel van closed. She picked up her camera bag and looked over at Yang, expecting her to come over and pick up the duffle bag full of odds and ends that they'd need for filming tonight. Yang, however, stayed where she was, leaning against the driverside door of the van and staring at her scroll.

"Hello? Yang? You there?" Blake grinned and stepped closer to her. "Or are you you too busy texting some cutie?" The remark drew Yang's attention and made her blank expression shift into a smile.

"Aw, you know the only cutie I need to text is right here." Yang winked at Blake. She was always very proud of her cheesy lines but she was especially proud of the ones that actually worked. And, judging from the slight blush on Blake's cheeks, it seemed like that one worked.

" _Buzz buzz_ , new text from your cutie." Blake was trying to hide her grin but, dammit, Yang was just too cute. "She says you should pick up this bag so we can go inside and get to work already."

"No, it's okay, we gotta wait around a bit. Remember?" Yang used one hand to gesture as if that was supposed to communicate what it was she was talking about but Blake could only give her a puzzled expression.

"Y'know, uh... what's-her-name." Yang paused again to wait for Blake to suddenly understand what she was talking about. "I told you, didn't I? About the film student that wanted to come along tonight?"

"Film student?" Blake had not been told.

"Yeah, she's like, making a documentary about us for a school project or whatever." Yang's scroll buzzed and pulled her attention back away from Blake.

"A _documentary_? Like, about _us_? And _our show_?"

"Yeah, she got in touch, like, a week ago and I figured it'd be good publicity or whatever. Y'know, get our name out there a bit more." Yang tapped her scroll a few times and then looked back at Blake. She was surprised when she saw how concerned Blake was now.

"More publicity? _Yang_. This is a _scam_. The last thing we want is more publicity!" She set her camera down and put her head in her heands in disbelief. "I can't believe you agreed to this."

"We're not a scam!" Yang said with a laugh. "People want ghost stories and so we give them ghost stories!"

"Yeah, and then we tell them that the stories are real!" Blake was trying not to shout even though it was unlikely that anyone was going to hear them while they were out infront of an old abandoned - and supposedly haunted - house. "Remember that voice-over you recorded? The one that plays at the start of every episode?"

" _'Tonight, we present to you the scariest and spookiest true stories in all of Beacon'_ " Yang recited. She paused for a second when she realized what she had said. " _Oh_... Blake are... are we running a _scam_??"

"We can talk about that later, right now you need to call up your little film school buddy and tell her we aren't doing a documentary." Blake pointed at Yang's scroll and sighed. Yang's eyes shot back down to her scroll but before she could do anything, the two of them were bathed in the bright beams of a small two-door compact's headlights.

"Uh-oh. I think it's too late for that." Yang looked down the circular drive as the car pulled up behind their van.

"Shit, we'll just... just tell her the camera is broken so we can't film tonight, okay?" Blake whispered at Yang and then knelt down to her camera bag and pretended to fiddle with it.

Two figures stepped out of the car. First, from the passenger side, was a faunus with a pair of tall rabbit ears. Yang recognized her as the film student she had talked to (who she still couldn't quite remember the name of... Satin? Silk? It was definitely a type of fabric... probably). Yang didn't know who the second woman that emerged from the driver side was. As soon as she got out of the car, she put on some sunglasses. Along with her stylish clothes and fancy beret, Yang thought the woman could easily have been on the cover of some fashion magazine but instead she was here, in the driveway of a 'haunted' house in the middle of the night.

The faunus (Cotton? ...Wool? No, that wasn't right either) offered a little wave to Yang and then ducked back into the car and pulled out a bag that Yang assumed must've had her camera in it. She energetically approached Yang and reached out for a handshake which Yang recieved with a smile.

"Hey, I'm Velvet!-"

 _Shit, right, Velvet. Of course_ Yang thought.

"We talked the other day about the documentary? I hope you don't mind, my, um, my friend came along with me." Velvet blushed a bit when she said 'friend'.

"Name's Coco." She stuck her hand out to Yang for a handshake. "I'm here to hold Velvet's hand when she gets scared."

"Hey there!" Yang shook Coco's hand. "I'm Yang and this is Blake. Tonight, we-"

"Yeah, about tonight-" Blake stood up and held her camera in front of her. She decided that Yang was taking too long to give their excuse and get them out of there so she was just going to have to do it herself.

"We're ready to go! Hope you two are ready to get scared!" Yang interrupted Blake with a big nervous smile. Blake shot her a glance but was careful not to make it too suspicious.

"Oh, totally!" Velvet grinned and pulled her own camera out of her bag. It wasn't as fancy as what Blake and Yang used but it was good enough for a student project.

"Oh, you're not going to be able to get anything with that. We have to use very, uh, specialized equipment to film ghosts." Blake said, in hopes of discouraging Velvet at least a little bit.

"That's okay! The documentary is about you two and the show you make, so as long as neither of you are ghosts I'll be okay! And Yang told me you'd share any ghost footage we get tonight." Velvet smiled at Blake. Blake was already tired of just how cheerful and energized this girl was.

"Oh, did she?" Blake looked over at Yang and gave her a little glare. "Well, I'll be sure to send you whatever we get."

"Speaking of which, we should get moving! We haven't got all night!" Yang finally picked up the duffle bag Blake had asked her to carry and quickly made her way up the steps to the front door of the old house. Blake sighed and followed behind her with Velvet and Coco close behind her.

They had been told that the house was nearly three hundred years old. Yang took the owner's word for it but Blake wasn't sure she believed that. The broken, boarded-up windows and peeling paint all over the front of the house definitely showed that the house was _old_ but Blake assumed the three hundred years figure came from some generous rounding. The floorboards of the porch creaked as the four of them approached the front door.

"Hey, let's do a quick intro at the door." Blake called out to Yang. Blake pulled the handheld mic that Yang used out of the audio bag and moved closer to Yang at the dilapidated front door.

 _"We can't do this with them here, figure out some way to get them to leave."_ Blake leaned in close and whispered as she handed the mic over. When she turned around to get in position for filming she froze for a moment when she saw that Velvet had already started filming with her own camera.

Blake turned on the recorder in the audio bag and adjusted a dial when Yang did a quick audio check. She had to at least go through the usual motions so as not to raise any suspicions. She lifted her camera up onto her shoulder and gave Yang the signal to start whenever she was ready.

Yang opened her mouth but froze when an idea struck her. She waved to Velvet and Coco who were standing behind Blake. "Hey, do you two want to be in this episode?" Blake glared at Yang and mouthed _what are you doing_ at her as angrily as she could manage without actually making any noise.

"Oh my gosh, really!?" Velvet lowered her camera and her face lit up with excitement. She looked over at Coco who grinned at her and took the camera out of her hand. Coco gave Velvet an encouraging nudge towards the door.

"I'm _such_ a huge fan of your show, so this is, like, a huge honor!" Velvet took up a spot across from Yang so that the two of them flanked the door itself.

"Thank you so much!" Yang smiled at Velvet and then looked back over to Blake who was doing her best to hide her glare behind the eyepiece of her camera. Yang realized she was in trouble and started to run through her intro while trying to figure out a plan to get them out of here.

"Good evening Beacon. Welcome to another episode of [TERRIBLE PUN NAME]. Tonight we're joined by Junior Ghost Hunter, Velvet... uh" she paused and looked over at Velvet.

"Oh, Scarlatina. Velvet Scarlatina."

"Junior Ghost Hunter, Velvet Scarlatina." Yang continued her intro as if she had known Velvet's name the whole time. "Tonight we're at the old Schnee residence, one of the most well-known haunted spots in all of Remnant."

"And we're going to figure out just how many ghosts there are here!" Velvet enthusiastically added. Yang glanced over at her again and then back to the camera.

"Yeah!" she added.

"Alright, that's good, let's head inside." Blake announced. 

"Hey, I hope that was alright. I couldn't help myself." Velvet said with a little laugh.

"Oh, yeah, don't worry. It was great! Now come on, we got a lot of ghosts to find!" Yang smiled and patted Velvet on the shoulder. Yang pulled the key the owner had given her out of her pocket and started to fumble with the old lock on the door. As Yang and Velvet opened the door and took the first steps inside, Coco put a hand on Blake's shoulder and pulled her aside.

"Hey, can I ask... this stuff it's all... it's fake, right?" she asked calmly. Blake froze. Had she really figured them out already? They hadn't even gotten inside to do the _actual_ fake stuff they do. "I mean, like, my girlfriend loves your show and that's why she wanted to do the documentary project on you but, y'know, just between you and me. Ghosts aren't real, right?"

Blake quietly let out a sigh of relief. She assumed this meant that Coco didn't care enough to try and expose the whole show as a sham. Maybe they'd be able to get away with this after all.

"Just between you and me?" Blake leaned in close to Coco. "Yang is the medium, so that's really a question for her. I'm just here to handle the tech stuff she needs."

She immediately regreted what she said. Leaning into the lie was maybe not the best choice right now, regardless of Coco's (or even Velvet's) motives. Blake sighed and followed Yang inside the old house.

The door and the windows let in just enough of the moonlight that they were able to get a good look at the massive entryway of the house. The room had two massive, curved staircases along either side of it that lead up to the second floor where there was massive double doors that looked like the most intimidating a pair of old wooden doors possibly could. Between the staircases was a large round table that had, at some point, rotted enough that it had halfway collapsed to the ground, spilling several vases full of the desiccated remains of flowers onto the worn and whithered rug that covered the floor. Above the table, was a massive crystalline chandelier that probably looked beautiful when it was properly lit up but, at the moment, it only looked spooky. Along the walls of the room were several other large and intimidating doors that all seemed to be firmly shut.

"Hey, Yang, can you help me set up the spectral analyzer?" Blake took a few steps into the massive room and made note not to stand underneath the chandelier just in case whatever was holding it to the ceiling was as decayed as everything else seemed to be.

"Oh, yeah, right. The analyzer." Yang winked at Blake and sat the bag she had brought in down on the floor and dug through all the various bits of 'ghost hunting equipment' they regularly featured on their show.

"Hey, Velvet." Blake called over and held out one of the simpler devices they used: an EMF Remote. If anyone asked, it was a device used to find the disturbances ghosts leave in electromagnetic fields. In reality, however, it was just an old television remote with some extra LEDs attached to it. "Use this to check around the room. If you get any strong readings, let us know, okay?"

Velvet took the remote and did as she was told and pointed it at every suspicious looking wall or bit of floor. Once she was far away enough that Blake was confident she wouldn't hear them, she leaned over to Yang and started whispering to her again.

" _Well, have you figured out a new plan yet? We gotta get out of here soon or else she'll figure us out._ "

" _I'm working on it, okay? The best plans don't always come to me right away._ "

" _Yeah, well, we don't have much time so you-_ "

_**SLAM** _

The loud sound of the front door slamming shut startled all of them and even drew a loud shriek out of Velvet. They all turned to look at the door but, since it was now closed, the only source of light in the room was the little bit of moonlight leaking in around the boards that covered the broken windows. Yang quickly pulled her scroll out of her pocket and turned the light on and shined it towards the door.

"Was that a ghost? That was definitely a ghost, right?" Velvet called out, her voice already a bit shakey.

"No, it was-" Blake was going to say but Yang interrupted her before she could.

" _Definitely_. That was _absolutely_ a ghost. Probably an angry one!"

" _Yang_ " Blake quietly chided her girlfriend. Blake looked around the room until she found the blinking LEDs of the EMF meter and, a few moments later, saw Velvet's scroll light up the girl's face.

"You okay Velvet?" Yang called out. When the girl confirmed that she was fine, Yang called out again. "How about you, Coco?"

Silence.

"Coco?" Velvet nervously called out into the dark room.

"Didn't she follow you in, Yang?" Blake asked.

"Yeah. I mean, I thought she did. She was right behind me, at least."

Blake sighed. "Do you think she slammed the door behind us? Like, as a joke? To try and scare us?"

"What? No! She wouldn't do that!" Velvet paused and thought a bit harder for a moment. "Well... okay _maybe_ she would."

Yang rolled her eyes and tried to pull the door open to no avail. She tried pulling on it again, harder, but when that didn't work she just started pounding on the door.

"Open up, Coco! Very funny! Come on!" she shouted. The three of them sat in silence as they waited for any response at all. After a few moments, Yang tried again and was once again met with no answer. "I guess it's just the three of us."

"Coco!" Velvet called out to her partner as she tried to look through a crack between two boards that covered one of the windows.


	12. Mass Effect - Untitled Liara/FemShep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mass Effect 1  
> Liara/FemShep
> 
> I found this and have no recollection of ever writing it or what I was going to do with it and I didn't even write any notes for how this was supposed to go. Rereading it now, I feel like Liara is kind of out of character for how she is in Mass Effect 1, as is Shepard (for how I played her and usually write her, at least). I like to think Shepard is very cool and confident but gets flustered easily around Liara but went a bit overboard with it here.

The Combat Information Center was buzzing with post-mission activity. Commander Shephard stood at her post overlooking everyone as they worked. Her job was mostly done with the latest mission finished, now she would just have to wait and sign off on some paperwork. She smiled a bit as she thought about their successes. It seemed like they just might be able to pull it all off.

There was one person in particular she watched work though. Dr. Liara T'Soni was talking to one of the CIC officers, probably giving them a debrief on what happened so they could finish filing the proper reports. She hadn't been on the Normandy for long but she had caught Shepard's eye. The way she carried herself, her incredibly intelligence, and her ability to step up to any task given to her made her stand out from almost everyone else on the ship. While Shepard had had similar thoughts about other crew members there was something about Dr. T'Soni that was different. It was more than just her curiosity about the Asari - Shepard had only occasionally and briefly seen Asari before on the Citadel, this was by far the most time she had spent around an Asari. It was definitely more than just a curiosity about an alien, Shepard's heart skipped a beat whenever she looked at Liara.

Shepard stepped down from her perch over the CIC and stopped one of the CIC officers walking by. "Could you tell Dr. T'Soni that I would like to speak to her in my office after she's done here? Thanks." The officer replied with a short affirmative and Shepard continued on her way. When Shepard stepped on the elevator she caught a glimpse of the officer delivering her message to Liara and she thought that just for a second she saw a grin on Liara's face. 

I'm probably just imagining things. Shepard thought. Why am I even doing this? What am I going to say? I'm an idiot. She exited the elevator and quickly made her way to her office and paced around impatiently. She needed to make up some reason for her to need to call the scientist to her quarters like this. While Shepard tried to maintain a friendly rapport with all the crew of the Normandy, that generally didn't include social calls to the Captain's quarters.

The sound of the door sliding opened surprised Shepard; Liara had arrived sooner than she had expected. The door closed behind the smiling Asari as she walked in carrying a datapad with her.

"You wanted to see me, Commander?" she said. Shepard stared at her for a second, dazed. The sound of her voice was so pleasant and her smiling face was so friendly that she felt completely relaxed for a moment and almost forgot where she was. 

"Oh uh yes, well I wanted to talk to you about..." Shepard stumbled over her words as they practically fell out of her mouth. Her brain stalled at the end and she just trailed off as she realized that she hadn't come up with an excuse for this meeting yet.

"Is it something about the last mission?" Liara's smile changed to a grin that seemed like she was trying not to laugh. Shepard could tell that she knew something was up. Of course she knew, Liara was one of the smartest and cleverest people she'd ever met. She probably saw right through Shepard and was doing her best to not to break out in full on laughter at how silly and dumb the human seemed right now.

"Ah well you see..." Shepard said as she stepped forward. She moved her hands somewhat while talking in hopes that it would help her come up with something to say but instead she just ended up accidentally knocking the datapad out of Liara's hands. She tried to catch it but fumbled and let the datapad hit the ground. She quickly picked it back up and handed it to Liara. "I'm sorry, I'm just clumsy sometimes I guess" she said, letting out a nervous chuckle.

"Is everything ok Commander? Are you feeling alright?" Liara grabbed the datapad back from Shepard and their hands briefly brushed against each other. That was the last straw for Shepard. She could feel herself her cheeks turn red and blush. Shepard's mouth hung open for a moment while she looked into the Asari's beautiful eyes. She could get lost in those eyes forever and just might if she didn't find some words to say.

"Y-yeah. Everything is great, actually. I... I... I'm fascinated by you, Dr. T'Soni." she finally said. Liara's expression changed to one of confusion. It seems maybe she wasn't three steps ahead like Shepard had assumed she was and that this had actually caught her off guard.

"Well I uh... maybe 'fascinated' isn't the right word. But I... well... it's just that when I see you I feel..." Shepard forced the words out as best she could. Years of military training and service hadn't prepared her for a situation like this and it clearly showed. Shepard broke eye contact as her gaze hit the floor. "I'm sorry Doctor, this was very unprofessional of me, I shouldn't have done this. I'm really very sorry, I probably seem like a juvenile schoolgirl, calling you in here just to talk about feelings." Shepard took a step back and gave up on trying to find the right words. Hopefully they could just forget this happened and go back to normal.

The room was quiet for what felt like an eternity but was really just a short moment before Liara broke the silence. As soon as Shepard heard her voice, she looked back up at Liara and met her eyes again.

"Well Commander maybe the next time we're on the Citadel we could find some extra time in your schedule and maybe go get lunch or something together? To get to know each other better, because honestly I think that you're... fascinating as well." As Liara spoke, Shepard thought she saw the Asari's cheeks turn the slightest bit red with blush. Shepard couldn't help but smile a big dumb grin as she spoke.

"That sounds great, we'll definitely do that. Um... thank you Dr. T'Soni."

The Asari turned and started to leave. "Oh and you don't have to be so formal, you can just call me Liara." she said and smiled.


End file.
